Ukraine close to war, says Germany

Germany has formally advised its citizens to leave east and south Ukraine because it is just a "few steps" away from war

Ukraine is only a "few steps" away from "military confrontation", the German foreign minister warned on Tuesday, as his country formally advised its citizens to leave the eastern regions.

This deeply pessimistic assessment from Frank-Walter Steinmeier came as the airport serving Donetsk region – the most populous area of Ukraine – cancelled all international flights until further notice.

The information board in the departures hall of Sergei Prokofiev Airport showed a string of cancelled flights to destinations including Moscow, Munich and Istanbul.

One domestic departure to Kiev was allowed to depart, but this appeared to be the only service of the day. An official at Borispol airport in Kiev said that no further flights were expected from Donetsk on Tuesday.

The red, blue and black flag of the "Donetsk People's Republic", established by pro-Russian activists in this region, now flies outside the airport's departure hall.

The authorities gave no reason for the decision to suspend all services. One possibility is that Ukraine's armed forces want to clear the airspace to help their military operation against pro-Russian insurgents.

A small airport serving the neighbouring region of Luhansk has also been closed, but this happened some days ago for commercial reasons unrelated to the crisis.

Mr Steinmeier told four European newspapers that the bloodshed in the port city of Odessa, which claimed at least 40 lives on Friday, had been a turning point. "The bloody pictures from Odessa have shown us that we are just a few steps away from a military confrontation," he said.

Already, the situation had escalated in a way "that a short time ago we would not have considered possible," added Mr Steinmeier.

A passenger arrives at Donetsk airport (AFP/GETTY)

His ministry issued new travel advice for Ukraine, urging all German citizens to "leave" the eastern regions of Donetsk and Luhansk. "Checkpoints and roadblocks were erected in these regions, which are operated by irregular armed forces," reads the advice. "In the light of recent developments, it must be assumed that the media will run special risk of being detained or arrested by separatist forces."

Germany has close economic ties with Ukraine and a respected network of diplomatic contacts. So far, the Foreign Office has not urged all British citizens to leave these regions yet, confining itself to advising against all but "essential travel" to Donetsk – and "all" travel to the towns where the Ukrainian government's military offensive is taking place.

This operation is focused on Slavyansk, a town of 120,000 people which is under the de facto control of pro-Russian insurgents.

Four Ukrainian soldiers were killed there on Monday and a helicopter gunship was shot down. On Tuesday, the interior ministry tried to dispel the impression that the security forces had suffered a defeat at the hands of the rebels, saying that 30 insurgents had been killed during this battle.